Apparatus for steadying guns on shipboard.



No. 640,05I. Patented Dec. 26, i899. B. TOWER. I APPARATUS FUR SATEADYING GUNS 0N SHIPBUBD.

(Application led June 26, 1899.)t

Patented'nec. 26, 1899.

. B. TOWER. APPARATUS FOR STEADYING GUNS 0N SHIPBOARD.

` (Appution mea June 2e, 1899.)

4 Shaets-Sheet 2f (no Hoden.)

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No. 640,051. Patented Dec. 26, |899.

B. TOWER.

APPARATUS FOB STEDYING GUNS 0N SHIPBDARD.

. (Application led June 26, 1899.) (Ho Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

vNo. 640,05I. Patented Dec. 26, |899. B. TOWER.

APPARATUS FOR STEADYIHG GUNS 0N SHIPBOARD.

(Application med Ju'ne 26, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

0MM,... ...M .QLN

nEAuOnAMP TOWER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS Fo'RsTAbl'rie cette ou SHIP-somo.'

= SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 640,051, dated December 2,6, 1399.

Application tiled June 26. 18.99.

T all whom,- zz may concern.-

Be it known that I, BEAUCHAMP TOWER, engineer, a citizen of England, residin gat No. Queen Annes Gate, Westminster, London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Steadying Guns on shipboard, (for which I'have applied for a patent in Great Britain, dated December 6, 1898, No. 25,737,) of which the following is a specification.

In my Patents Nes. 366,438 and 464,806 I have described means of maintaining a constant plane in a floating vessel, and in the later patent, No. -464,806, I have described the mounting of a gun on the plane so maintained constant. I

According to my present invention instead of placing the gun On-'the steadying apparatus I iit it in areeoil-cradle trunnioned in a suitable gun-mount, and within the m'ount I arrange steadying apparatus of the kind described in my former patents. V Ieonnect the gun-cradle lto a suitable part of the steadying apparatus, so that the gun is held steady, while nevertheless it can recoil in the cradle` without throwing disturbing force on the steadying apparatus.

Although the steadying apparatus is ar rangedto Operate on thek gyroscopic principle, as set forth in my former patents, I modify many of the details, as I shall describe, referring to the accompanying drawings.

VFigure 1 is avertieal section of the steadying apparatus constructed according to my present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, partly sectional, on the line A A ot` Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on a smaller scale, and Fig. 4 is a plan, showing the gunmountings and their accessories. Figs. 5 and 6 are views on opposite sides with parts broken away to show internal parts, and Fig. 7 is an end view. Figs. 8 and 9 are side views, and Fig. 10 is an end view, showing positions of gun and its mountings when the vessel pitches and rolls. Fig. 11 is a. plan of the steadying apparatus, looking from below. Fig. 12 is a section, and Fig. 13 is a plan, of the correct- .ing-cylinder. Fig. 14 is a side view, and Fig. 15 is an end view, of the upper parte of the training and elevating gear.

The gyroscope a, with its tangential jets b and its axial jets c, its four leveling-pendu--- Serial No. 721,977. (No model.)

the cylinder f directly opposite to it, and the cylinders finstead of being, as formerly, open at the top' and closed at the bottom are now closed at the top and open at' the bottom, their pistons being connected by rods h, extending downward, to a swing-frame '11, which is mounted o n awspherical pivot j, carried on V a U-shaped bracket projecting down from the gyroscope-cell. On this bracket are mounted a. pair of levers k, one end of each of which is loaded, and the other end bears against the stem of an adjustable ValveZ in .l

the passage by which the water enters for supply of the jets b and c. vers 7a and valve Zoperate as follows: The gyroscope revolving on its cup-and-ball bearing has the greater part of its weight carried lby the upward pressure of the water passing through this bearing. As the vessel sinks Vdownward on a wave the tendency to leave the gyrose'ope behind diminishes its downward pressure on the water, so that it might. be.

lifted. by the water from its bearing. This same tendency acting at the same time on the weights of the levers diminishes their upward pressure on the valvel and causes it to partly close and diminish the pressure of the water under the gyroscope in the same degree as'the downward weight of the gyroscope is diminished.

As in the former patent, No. 464,80,there is These loaded 1el besides the ni'ain portsl g a narrow central Y.

passage leading by pipes mand n to the correcting-cylinder o, the piston of which is linked to an arm p' on a rocking shaft p,

through a slot of which passes the end of a blade-spring q, tending to hold the piston of. 0n the rocking shaft p is xed' o central.

another arm r, which is connectedby a rod s to tbfe recoil-cradle t of the gun.' As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the conuectingpin of theupper end ofthe rod s is fitted to slide u' in xeo a bracket fw, fixed on the cradle t, and can be v raised or lowered by turning a hand-wheel nnt Q3, so es to vary es desired the elevetion ci? the gnn.

The 'cell of which the cyindersf forni the ccrners'contsins the gyroscope a and is that which remains steady with respect to two verticel planes et right ongles to each other notwithstanding the pitching and rolling of the vessel. The] cell is, es before, mounted in gimbels-thnt is -to sny, it is pivoted by two opposite trunnions w to n. square ring having downwerdly-projecting arms m, Figs. and 9,'provided with trnnnions y, pivoted in a bracket projecting npwnrd from the turntable s, whereby the ring is pivctaliy inonnte.

ed on seid turn-table. v The-exis of 'the t'rnnnions y 'y isat rightenglesto the exis of ww, but is at e lower level. The gimbebring a: hes the stendiness of the gyroscope-cell in the v `vertical plane 'in which the exis of the gun moves when it is elevnted or depressed, end

the steztdiness in this piene is imparted to the' gun-cradle by the rod s, which connects the cradle to the rocking-shaft of the correctingcylinder o, which is attached' to the gimbal? ring. As before, the trnnnions and gimbnlring are made hollow for passage of witter to the jets of the gyroscope.

From one sideof the swing-frame i project A two arms 1 1, which are linked by rods 242 to the freine of the gun-mounting, the length of the links 2 2 ,being equal to the distsnce oi the center of the sphericnll pivot j below the axis of the trunnions'w w. Thus the swingframe' is suspended by three hangers of equal length,so that however it swings it niways remains parallel to the piene pnssing through the axes of' the trunnions end the upper pivots of the rods 2. As the pistons of the four cylinders' f nre jointed to the swing-freine i, they cause the movement of the gyroscope-celi 'relatively to the swing-frame and the vessel,

and thus ss .the motions of the pistons-ere determined by the directions of the nxial jets. c the gyroscope-celi is kept 'steady notwithstanding the movements of the vessel.

A ber 3, carrying n seat 4 andafoot-rest 5, is attached to the gu n-crsdle-t in a convenient position for the gunner, who-when sented is kept steady with the crndle. Hc has within reach the hand-wheel c', by turning which,ns already described, he can vary the elevation of the gun. He has also within reach e hendwheel 7 on a spindle 6, which y*by gearing 8 works a spindle having' a universal joint 9 and extending ldown tobevei-gear 10, connecting it to a wormll, which engages teeth on the circular base of the turn-table. 'Thus the gunner by turning the wheel 7 can train the 'gun as desired. The gunner has also within reach suitable firing apparatus end can determine direction of the gun by means' of sights 12. As the gun-cradle can rock to a certain extent in the vertical planev passing through the axes of its trnnnions, this rockingmcvement aEects tos certain extent the direction of the gun in respect of training.

In order to correct this, i fit the trainingsenesi.

worm 11 in bearings in which itcen slide lengthwise and I connect one yend of the inform-spindle to one nrin of t bell-crank 13, the other erin of which is connected adjustnbly by st iink it to nn nrm en the rocking shnft from which one of the suspending-links 2 extends down to one of the nrms 1 ci the rocking freine 21. As this rocking shet is partly turned by the swing of the erin 2, the training-Worin ll is moved lengthwise, so

' tnrning the gun-mounting sunicientiy to cornpfensnte for the virtual error in trainingdne to the rockingcf the trnnnions. The iengtln of erm to which the link i4 is jointed is ed Ajnsted by a hand-wheel l5 and screw te snit Vdiderent elevations of the gun, the nrnibeing elongated es the elevation is increased, so es to give the greater emonnt of correction required for the trsining. Anetherof the sns-i pending-iinks 2 hss an erm on the rocking shaft from which it hnngs connected by a link 16 to one nrni of n bell-crnnk 16, Fig. 7, the other erm of which is jointed to one erm of e. lever 17. The other erm ci this lever is jointed' to one end of n rod 18, which is enspendedby s p'nr of equsi redini crans 19 and 20 end connected toa'sight-csrrier, which rries the sight-bar 21, this sight-cerner having nn erm extending upward end linked to sn equini erin projecting np from the erin 20. Thus es the sights ere elevated or. depressed their movement is in e v. the vessel insy rock.

Having thus described the netnre ci this invention end the best Ineens i know of cerrying the semeinto practical edect, i cieim- 1. The 4combination with e gun-montan a gun, end a recoil-cradle' trnnnioned on the ertical pinne however gun-mount end inwhich the gun een slide, of

the gyroscope, the hydraulic gyroscope-cylim ders governed by the gyroscope, e swing'i freine suspended under the gyrosccpe and connected with the pistons of the seid cylinders, the correcting-cylinder,'s swinging arm connected with and controlled by the piston of the correcting-cylindcnnind e rod connecting said swinging arm with said recoil-cradle, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a gnu-mount, a gun, and s recoil-crsdle .trnnnioned on the gun-mount, of the gyrcscope having axial jets c ,end open-mouthed ports g in its top por;

tion, the hydraulic gyroscope-cyiinders having their lower endscpen' and their upperends closed but communicating with said open.

mouthed ports, the suspended swing-frame arranged below the gyroscope and connected withthe lower ends of the piston-rods of said cylinders, a center pivot suspended from a part of the gyroscope and on which the swingframe centrally bears, the correcting-cylinder governed bythe gyrosoope, a swinging arm connected with the piston of the correctingcylinder,andaconnection betweensaidswinging erm. and the recoil-cradle of the gun, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a gun-monnt, a I

-gun and a `recoil-cradle in which the gun can slide, of a circular base having teeth -on its periphery,a worm engaging said teeth, ahandwheel and gear carried by the gun-mount, and a universal-joint connection arranged in line with the cradle-trnnnions and connecting said gear with said worm, substantially as described.

`4:. The combination with a gunmonnt, a gun, and a recoil-cradle trunnioned on the gun-mount and in which the gun can slide, of a circular base having teeth on its periphery, a slidable and rotatable worm, the gyroscope', the hydraulic gyroscope-cyli'nders, the swing-frame arranged under the gyroscope and connected with the pistons of said cylinders, suspending-links for suspending the swing-frame from the gunmount,a bell-crank connected with the worm-shaft, and a link adjustably connected with one of said snspending-links and with said bell-crank, for correcting the training of the gun when affected by the rocking of the recoil-cradle, substantially as described.

5. The. combination with a gun-mount, a. gun, and a recoil-cradle trunnioned in the gun-mount, of the gyroscope, the hydraulic. gyroscope-cylinders governed bythe gyroscope, a swing-frame arranged under the gyroscope, suspended from the gun-mount and connected with the pistonsof said cylinders, the correcting-cylinder, a swinging arm connected with and controlled by the piston of the correcting-cylinder, a hand-wheel, screw and slide carried by said recoil-cradle, and a rod connecting said swinging arm with said slide, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a gun-mount, a gu'n, a recoil-cradle trnnnioned on the gunmount,'and a sight-carrier carrying a sightbar,of the gyroscope, the hydraulic gyroscopecylinders, the swing-frame, the suspendinglinks for suspending said swingframe from the gun-mount, a suspended swinging rod connected with thesight-carrier, a bell-crank, a lever connecting one arm of the bel1-crank with said swinging rod, and connections be-- tween the other arm of the bell-crank and one of the said swing-frame suspending-links, for maintaining the movement of the sightbar in a vertical plane, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. BEAU,CHAMP 'rows-R.

Witnesses: A V

GERALD L. SMITH, C. S. HOPKINS. 

